It's not official yet, but Hawai'i seems likely to end up No. 1 in the nation this year when it comes to seat-belt use.

Officials at the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration are waiting for a few straggler states to report their figures, but it's unlikely those states will come out any better than Hawai'i, which recorded a better than 95 percent seat belt compliance rate for the second year in a row.

Last year only Arizona had a slightly higher rate than Hawai'i and the word out of NHTSA is that Arizona's use dropped slightly this year.

Overall, the observed use of seat belts across the nation last year was 80 percent. The lowest rate in the nation last year was in Mississippi, where 63.2 percent of the drivers buckled up.

Being No. 1 might just be icing on the cake for the state's traffic safety officials. The real prize though comes with extra funding the federal government makes available to states that have a 90 percent compliance rate for three years in a row, something that Hawai'i is almost guaranteed when the final figures are in.

That money, several million dollars, will be used to fund even more traffic safety programs, such as the Click It or Ticket seat belt campaign or the Walk-Wise Hawai'i program aimed at improving pedestrian safety, said state Transportation Department spokesman Scott Ishikawa.

Officially, statewide seat belt use was 95.3 percent this year, up from 95.1 percent in 2004. Maui this year had the highest rate of drivers who use their seat belts, 97.2 percent; while Kaua'i has the lowest, 94.7 percent, according to statistics compiled by University of Hawai'i researchers for the state Transportation Department.

While Hawai'i drivers apparently don't need much encouragement to buckle up, the NHTSA has come up with some sobering statistics about seat belt use.

Almost 55 percent of all traffic fatalities last year occurred when people in a car were not properly restrained. The statistic was even higher — 68 percent — for passengers between the ages of 13 and 15.

MOPED PARKING

The City Council Transportation Committee last week gave preliminary approval to a bill that would allow mopeds to be parked in sidewalk bicycle racks.

Until now, mopeds have been required to park only in regular public parking spaces on streets, including those reserved for motorcycles and scooters. The new bill, however, would give moped riders the opportunity to lock their vehicles to an increasing number of bicycle racks that the city has installed throughout the island.

The bill, which goes back to the full City Council for further action, comes with one caveat, however: Drivers would have to get off the moped in the street and walk it on the sidewalk until they reach the bicycle rack.

Reach Mike Leidemann at mleidemann@honoluluadvertiser.com.